Sept 22, Tue - day 47
West Yellowstone, Montana
Weather - low 26 (-3C) to high 60s (19C) clear and sunny two days in a row



Today we were expecting a visitor and it may be have been our Blog that enticed them to want to come and visit for a couple of days. They were to arrive around 9am (+ or -) and that left me time to take-off on an early morning shoot. Racine opted to stay home in case our visitor got in a bit early, didn’t want them to find Gus empty and the Red Rocket gone.



I left early, at 4am, and went to the site of the bison carcass to see if I would be lucky enough to get some shots of bear or wolf. I was the first one to arrive, and it was FROSTY and still dark. I stayed in the car (still long way off from dawn) and used our binoculars to search the hills and meadows. I couldn’t find the bison remains. Later I learned that the Rangers had quartered the carcass and spread it out along the base of the hill so the coyotes could start eating away. I found out that they can’t chew through, or have a very difficult time getting through the hide of bison. As dawn neared, there were coyotes chasing other coyotes, coyotes on the look-out (for bears and wolves and other coyotes) and coyotes getting a little meat. As dawn broke the coyotes started to disappear and the number of spectators on the road rose to around 30 or so, and I headed back to greet our expected visitor.



The visitor was our niece, Heidi, a photographer in her own right. You can visit her website at http://alpensky.smugmug.com/ . After the requied greetings and catching up on the details of her trip and other assorted gabbing we set off to capture the essence of Yellowstone Park. What a day for elk, missed seeing the osprey, but were treated to bison, car jams, deer, coyotes, people fishing, people getting too close to animals (no bloodshed), and lots of scenery.



The highlight of the day was our coyote encounter. We saw a bunch of cars pulled off along the side of the road a ways past the Fishing Bridge and Rae spotted two coyotes running through the bush. We missed our shot but calculated where they might be headed; jumped back in the Rocket and off we went down the road. We saw them a couple more times running through the timber, determined they were following the power line, found an access road (hopefully ahead of them) and waited to see if they would show up. As if on cue, we saw them coming down the power line, a mature female in the open and a young pup off to the side in the trees. The female stopped when she saw us, didn’t run, just stood there and watched while we snapped a number of shots. Then she headed over to her pup and off they went. WOW….was that ever a thrill and did we ever get some good, close-up photos….another great Yellowstone adventure!



All tired, we had dinner, reviewed photos, laughed a lot and then collapsed….everyone needed some rest. The adventure continues…



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE